In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the character, Edmund Pevensie, personifies gluttony, the sin of excessively using things in themselves legitimate, normally associated with the appetite, and, in effect, making one's belly the god he serves (Phil. What follows is a careful study of each book and its deadly sin. Nonetheless, each book does seem to portray one particular deadly sin above the others. Let me add here that it is certain Lewis dealt with multiple sins in Narnia in fact, each book reflects this. Since Lewis so readily refers to the seven deadly sins in many of his other works, it is my contention that he may either consciously or subconsciously have emphasized one of the seven deadly sins in each one of the seven Narnian books. For instance, in Mere Christianity he saves an entire chapter for pride ("the great sin") in Screwtape Letters he devotes letters to lust (IX, XVII) and pride (XXIV) in The Great Divorce he pictures sinners unable to choose heaven because of greed, sloth, and envy and finally, in Poems he focuses an entire poem, "Deadly Sins," on each one of the seven deadly sins. There, for example, while commenting on Langland, Lewis says that his "excellent satiric comedy, as displayed in the behavior of the seven Deadly Sins belongs to a tradition as old as the Ancren Riwle." In addition, in other works he refers to specific sins on the list. Throughout this study of allegory Lewis refers to the seven deadly sins. It is not surprising then that Lewis knew them so well as we see in The Allegory of Love. However, the list that came to be most influential in the church was the one developed by Gregory the Great (540-605) characterized by its Latin acronym, saligia: superbia (pride), avaritia (greed), luxuria (luxury, later lust), invidia (envy), gula (gluttony), ira (anger), and acedia (sloth).įor instance, William Langland's Piers Plowman, Dante's Divine Comedia, Chaucer's "The Parson's Tale," and Spenser's Faerie Queen all devote serious attention to these sins. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death." What eventually resulted, therefore, were numerous lists of especially harmful sins. There is a sin leading to death I do not say that he should make request for this. Early church father (Hermas, Tertullian, Augustine), while never actually listing specific "deadly" sins did suggest some sins were worse than others, perhaps with 1 John 5:16-17 in mind: "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. The development of a list of seven especially damning sins is shadowy. Let me begin by briefly summarizing the history of the seven deadly sins in the church and then go on to illustrate Lewis' knowledge of them by referring to several non-Narnian works. Thus, it has fallen to me in this paper to explore the nature of this relationship. I did not realize then that most were ill-equipped to tackle such a task. I remember suggesting that someone ought to study the relationship between the tales and the sins, intending of course that one of my students do so. As I was giving an overview of the seven Narnian tales, it struck me that Lewis, a medieval scholar, had an intimate knowledge of the seven deadly sins. Several years ago while teaching a fantasy literature course, I discovered an interesting relationship between the seven deadly sins and C. King ‐ Department of English (Montreat College)
0 kommentar(er)
